Tara Howse, President

Tara Howse, MA – Interdisciplinary Studies

Tara Howse has been in the rural development field for 15 years. She specializes in applying intersectional analyses, particularly related to gender equity and Indigenous-settler colonizer relations. A social sciences researcher, she is a natural problem solver that focuses on community-based and localized solutions to address the problem at hand.

Tara’s education includes a Bachelor’s in criminal justice and a Master’s in Interdisciplinary Studies with a dual focus in Global Change and Equity Studies. For her Master’s, her research asked how gender and Indigeneity impact trust in the social licence within the resource extraction industry. This work earned her a nomination to the Governor General Gold Medal Award (2021), an Emerging Rural Scholar Award (2021), and an Emerging Scholar Award (2019). Tara has additional certificates and training that span Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), Community Economic Development, and Appreciative Inquiry methodology.

As rural community economic development is an interdisciplinary field, her work is similarly broad and embraces both quantitative and qualitative data sources. Tara draws on experts and learnings across multiple fields of study with a lens to inclusivity and representation. Research and projects have involved women’s economic security, active transportation, Indigenous and settler understandings, economic investment, a variety of aspects related to housing, and First Nations experience in housing and mental health. This experience has allowed her to work will all levels of government, the business sector, and the non-profit sector. Simultaneously, it has given her ample public speaking and presentation experience to a wide variety of audiences.

An active volunteer, she has been a girl’s hockey coach, curling club board ember, film fest volunteer, and a founding member of the Rossland Society for Environmental Action. She is presently an Advisory Committee member of the City of Rossland Official Community Plan, participant in the Canadian Women’s Foundation Gender Justice Labs, and a founding member of the BC Climate Alliance.

Publications

Primary Author

  • Howse, T. (2022). Power & Pride: Supporting Women, Two-Spirit, and LGBTQ+ Individuals to Stand for Rural Local Government. City of Rossland.
  • Howse, T. (2022). SLO, Trust, and Conflicts in the Mining Sector: Escobal Mine Case Study. Resources Policy, 78.
  • Howse, T., & Breen, S. (2022). Lessons in Rural Housing: Regional District of Kootenay Boundary Case Study. Journal of Rural and Community Development, 17(3).
  • Howse, T. (2020, December). Is there hope for humanity? Can we change anything? Journal of Integrated Studies.
  • Howse, T., & Libby, D. (2021). Greenway (Trails) for All: Identifying the inequities of active transportation in rural BC. TrailsBC.
  • Applied Research & Innovation Centre, Columbia Basin Rural Development Institute. (2021). Disaster Recovery Housing. Castlegar, BC: Selkirk College.
  • Applied Research & Innovation Centre, Columbia Basin Rural Development Institute. (2021). Perspectives on Market Housing Solutions. Castlegar, BC: Selkirk College.
  • Applied Research & Innovation Centre, Columbia Basin Rural Development Institute. (2021). Economic Indicators Influencing Housing in the Boundary. Castlegar, BC: Selkirk College.
  • Applied Research & Innovation Centre, Columbia Basin Rural Development Institute. (2021). Genelle Case Study. Castlegar, BC: Selkirk College.
  • Howse, T. (2020). Gender, Indigeneity, and Trust in the Social Licence to Operate: The Need for Transformative Power Redistribution [Master’s thesis, Athabasca University].
  • Columbia Basin Rural Development Institute. (2018). Initial Investigation of Factors to Consider in Establishment of a Regional Home Insurance Provider [Research brief]. Castlegar, BC: Selkirk College

Contributing Author

  • Columbia Basin Rural Development Institute. (2021). 2020 Community profile report [28 communities available].  https://stateofthebasin.ca/reports-resources/community-profiles
  • Applied Research & Innovation Centre, Columbia Basin Rural Development Institute. (2020). 2020 Investment Readiness Assessment: Columbia Valley Corridor. Castlegar, BC: Selkirk College.
  • Applied Research & Innovation Centre, Columbia Basin Rural Development Institute. (2020). 2020 Investment Readiness Assessment: Elk Valley Corridor. Castlegar, BC: Selkirk College.
  • Applied Research & Innovation Centre, Columbia Basin Rural Development Institute. (2020). 2020 Investment Readiness Assessment: Kimberley-Cranbrook Corridor. Castlegar, BC: Selkirk College.
  • Greater Trail Community Skills Centre. (2014). Working Options for Women: Final Report. Trail, BC: Author.
  • Gold Island Consulting & Helen Lutz Consulting. (2013). Gender-based Analysis of Economic Opportunity: Lower Columbia Region. Trail, BC: Women Creating Change: Working Together for Economic Opportunity.

Presentations

  • Research Presentation, Taking Space: Queer Representation in Rural BC, Canada Human Rights Conference, June 2022.
  • Webinar Host, Transportation in a Time of Climate Crisis: Great Public Transit – Urban and Rural, West Coast Climate Action Network, March 2022.
  • Research Presentation, Promoting and Using GBA+ and IGBA+, Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure GBA+ Working Group, Government of British Columbia [online], February 2022.
  • Panelist, Ending Working Poverty in British Columbia. Tamarack Institute [online], October 2021.
  • Conference Presenter. Gender, Indigeneity, and Trust in the Social Licence to Operate: The need for Transformative Power Distribution. Creating Inclusive Economies: Building Bridges Between Public, Private and Civic Society Sectors, Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation [online], September 28-29, 2021.
  • Research Presentation. Building Local Government Capacity for Rural Economic Development: RDKB Housing Project. Regional District of Kootenay Boundary Board of Directors [online]. April 2021.
  • Conference Presenter. Greenway (Trails) for All: Identifying the inequities of Active transportation in rural BC. 2021 BC Greenway and Trail Symposium [online], April 15-17, 2021.
  • Webinar Presenter. RDKB Rural Market Housing. Economic Development Practitioners Network [online]. December 2020.
  • Forum Presentation. Community Safety Charter. Standing Together: Communities Taking Action Against Sexual Exploitation. Thompson, MB, 2009.
  • Workshop Presentation. Introduction to Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design. Thompson, MB, 2008.

Let’s identify solutions together.

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